Football | Bafana Bafana

Serero contradicts Igesund

Ajax Amsterdam midfielder Thulani Serero has disputed claims that he showed lack of patriotism after claiming to be injured when such was not the case.

The 23-year-old midfielder was booted out after indicating he would not be able to play despite being declared injury-free by the team doctors.

Bafana coach Gordon Igesund said, during a post-match press conference, the real reason Serero did not want to play was that he wanted to feature for his Dutch club in the Uefa Champions League and did not want to risk getting injured against Botswana.

However, the former Ajax Cape Town star disputed the claims and reaffirmed his commitment to the national team. Speaking to the daily newspaper Sowetan, through his manager Mike Ntombela, Serero denied faking injury.

"I will never do such a thing," he said. "I have played for Bafana Bafana in the past ahead of big Champions League games. The other thing is I'm not the coach, so there is no guarantee that I will play. I would not have travelled to Durban from Holland if I did not want to play.

"The truth of the matter is that I started feeling an excruciating pain after Wednesday's training. Later in the evening, I went to coach Gordon to explain to him that I suspect my niggling groin problem is coming back. It was the same pain I felt when I was out of action for several months last year."